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"Enduring the Night"

• "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it" (Jn.1:4-5). 
  
  

Children of Light

The very essence of God is light in whom there is no darkness. By nature, our carnal minds are blind to the light of God. 

When we come to Jesus Christ and allow His mind to be formed in us by His Holy Spirit, the blinders are removed, and we begin to behold His light through the Word of God. 

The pathway to God's light has been made known to us through the scriptures, more specifically, through the revelations from the tabernacle of Moses. This heavenly light of God was birthed into this world through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

• "And He (Jesus) is the radiance of His (the Father's) glory and the exact representation of His nature…" (Heb.1:3).
   "Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, 'I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life'" (Jn.8:12). 
  

Jesus lived and walked in His Father's light. The Father's Light speaks of His manifest Glory, such as was present in the Holy of Holies of Moses' tabernacle. Jesus is the embodiment of this light. We, too, are called to live in our Father's light even as Jesus did. 

In these latter days, God is restoring His glory to the earth. We are to be bearers of His Light as we walk and live in such glory. We are to shine forth with His light in a sin-darkened world. 

• "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt.5:14-17). 

An hour is soon coming when the only light in the world will be that which shines forth from His church. Jesus and the church share the responsibility to be the lights of the world. We need to prepare ourselves to be mature light-bearers and be ready for that hour. 

The light of God's glory is distinctly different from the light of our natural human spirit. The light of the human spirit is temporal. It is obscured by human reasoning and tainted with human motives. It is, by nature, earthy. The light of God's Spirit is eternal life. It is pure. It is from heaven. 

There are very few who have walked in the fullness of the light of God's glory throughout church history. However, as the appearing and revelation of Jesus Christ become imminent, such a glorious walk is being restored to the church. 

• "And the glory which you have given me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that hast sent Me, and have loved them, as thou have loved me…" (Jn.17:22-24). 

The Enlightened Walk

It is when Jesus gives us His light and glory that the Christian Church will become one with Him and each other. Such oneness between Jesus and His church will be the testimony of the Lord to the world that God has sent Him. 

• The early apostles experienced a foretaste of such an enlightened walk. Walking in the light of His glory was their everyday experience. The apostle John writes this: "On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining." (1Jn.2:8).

Praise the Lord! John was elevated in His Spirit and saw the light of the Lord as it shined on the early-day church believers and soon will be shining on latter-day church believers. This light expels the darkness of this present age. This scripture (1Jn.2:8) is becoming a word of present truth for the church of this generation. 

As a people behold the glory of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal.4:2) breaking from the far horizon, they shall be transformed into His glorious image and walk in the fullness of His light. 

You know you are beholding the glory of the Sun of Righteousness the moment the glory of the Lord enraptures you, catching you up into the Spirit. You begin walking in the heavenlies while yet on earth. The meek and lowly of heart will be among the first of many to walk in this new day soon. 

Even though God is light, we see what seems to be a paradoxical scriptural truth. 

"He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him pass thick clouds..." 
(Ps.18:11-12). 

This scripture reveals that, at times, God hides the intensity of His light in darkness lest it blinds us. Man cannot easily behold the fullness of God's light. For example, when the apostle Paul first beheld the Lord's light, he was left blinded on the Damascus road. 

After his sight was restored, through the prayers of a humble believer, the light of God was gradually revealed to him through the Word of God with an abundance of abundant Holy Spirit revelations.Thus God reveals His light to man gradually as he receives the revelation of Jesus Christ through the Word of God. 

The light of Jesus was hidden from men by the veil of His flesh. However, it was revealed to Peter, James, and John, who were specially prepared to experience this special revelation of His manifest glory.

As Jesus glowed radiantly on the mount of transfiguration, He visibly revealed to men that He was indeed literally the light of the world. 

• "And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter, and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light" (Matt.17:1-2). 

As we are now entering the morning of the seventh day of the Lord, He is calling specially prepared men and women to climb a high mountain, Mount Zion. They are to behold the fullness of His glorious light, transforming them into bearers of His light, as they behold the Sun of Righteousness breaking the far horizon (Mal.4:2). 

There are people today being drawn to walk in the light of His glory and being prepared through the work of the cross. These people recognize that even the light of their human spirit is but darkness compared to the Lord's light. 

The first time the Lord's light and glory dwelt with man was in the Garden of Eden till sin entered into the world, and His glory departed. The second time was when God communed with Moses through the burning bush. The third time was as that same glory took habitation in the holy of holies of Moses' tabernacle. 

This tabernacle was a type and shadow showing man the only pathway to the light and presence of God. The journey to find the light of the holy of holies is a journey through natural darkness.

Though we may journey through darkness, we are never left in the dark, as the light of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God guides us through this period. 

The Holy of Holies

The outer court of salvation is governed by natural light, as it was open to the sunlight'; this speaks of the light of natural human reasoning. We enter the outer court when we are born again and get saved. The holy place was a tent that was covered and didn't allow natural sunlight.

The holy place is entered when we are baptized in His Spirit and come into relationship and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The holy place is a place of natural darkness enlightened more perfectly only by the light coming from the candlestick as it burns pure oil. The oil speaks of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. 

The holy place is a place where we walk by faith in the Word of God as enlightened by the light of the Holy Spirit from the candlestick. In the holy of holies divided from the holy place by a veil, we experience the Lord as radiant divine light that is His manifest glory. 

The holy of holies is entered when the blood of Jesus is poured upon us, and our old soul's sinful nature is severed from our new righteous nature in Christ.

It's as the glory of the Lord embraces us and the morning star (daystar) arises in our hearts do we enter this heavenly realm. We are enraptured into His love and light. 

His light and glory have no earthly source and cannot be extinguished by man. In the holy of holies, our natures are transformed as our carnal mind surrenders and is transformed into the mind of Christ.

We enter into resurrection life, our eye having become single to His perfect will, and our whole bodies become full of light. 

• "The lamp of your body is your eye; when your eye is clear (healthy, single), your whole body is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you may not be darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it shall be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays" (Lk.11:34-36). 

Enduring the Night

We are thus delivered from all-natural and spiritual darkness. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. God wants a company of "candles" who will shine with His true Light in the darkness of the latter days.

As Jesus Christ is lifted up and shines through His people, all men will be drawn to Him. God will have a people who are so full of light that they are becoming the children of light. 

• "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord: walk as children of light…" (Eph.5:8). 

Through such a people, the Lord will make known the mysteries of the gospel of the kingdom to the world. Such will be living witnesses of Jesus, the light of the world, in the world's darkest hours. 

Darkness, while it is yet in the world, will be USED of the Lord for His purposes, and He will use it to bring the church to maturity and perfection. Darkness ceases only when Jesus comes to claim His kingdom. 

The Father's goal is to conform us to the image of His dear Son. He is creating a precious, unique, and peculiar people who will radiate the love of God in every circumstance. This is the day in which He is making up His jewels. (Mal.3:17) 

• "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him (Mal.3:17).

Jewels are created under great pressure in the darkness of the earth. We are all called to be jewels. Thus pressure and darkness may be used of the Lord in our lives to produce Christ-like qualities in us.

When the Light of His glory shines through His jewels, the world will truly see the manifold beauty of the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's purpose for everyone pressing into the kingdom of God. 

There are those in the Body of Christ today who love and seek the Lord but find themselves in places of pressure and darkness. Such are being drawn to the Father in a special way.

They are in distress and perplexity. The light of their human spirit seems to be coming to an end; they can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Human reasoning is failing; Human hope is waning. They seek the daylight but find themselves in the night. These people want nothing less than God's intervention to save and deliver their lives and bring them behind the veil to dwell in His glory. 

Does this describe you? Be encouraged, choice saint of God; such darkness is temporary while God works mightily in your spirit. Remember, all darkness is passing away. 

• "And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever" (Rev.22:5). 

Till that day occurs, God is intently weaving the silver and gold threads of His divinity into the sackcloth of your humanity, creating a tapestry that will be eternal in the heavens and forever on display. 

Our times of darkness humble us, weaken our desire for self-glory and enlarge our capacity to be filled with His glory. It is only those who are truly devoid of self-glory who can be trusted to walk in the glory of God. 

There are times in our Christian walk when we must travail and endure through the night, walking by faith, doing His will till a new day of light arises upon our lives. There are spiritual treasures instilled into our lives during these times; this is the handiwork of the Holy Spirit. 

We will not fully recognize the Holy Spirit's workings at first. But when we are brought out of the darkness and into His marvelous Light, the treasures of virtue and grace will be evident. We are thus fully prepared to bless the world with our gifts to the glory of God the Father.      

• "And I will give you the treasures of darkness, the hidden wealth of secret places… (Isa.45:3).

Faith Hope and Joy

The most valuable spiritual virtues one can possess in the days ahead will be faith, hope, and love. These virtues were purchased by Jesus when He died on the cross.

They are being freely given to those who desire them and who allow God to work them into the fabric of their life. Sometimes this occurs through much soul suffering. 

Our dark times press us to seek the Lord to discover that only His faith, hope, and love, working in us by the Spirit, enables us to be overcomers. We have no right to seize the glory that may accompany our victories. 

We must accept all that we are and will ever be is the result of His mercy and grace. We must acknowledge the truth. We prevail only because of Jesus and what He did at the cross. 

But if we have allowed God to work these virtues into our life, we will have strong faith where others failed. We will have eternal hope when others have despaired. We will have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts when others have turned cold. 

We will have a life that radiates righteousness, peace, and joy and displays His glory, thus exalting our Father in heaven. So, endure the night. Persevere in your trials with praise; Endure that infirmity cheerfully; Press on in the ministry; Continue loving that child. 

Overcome the circumstances that you now find yourself; He is in them with you. He is working mightily in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. 

• "…Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil.2:12-13).

So let your heart be revived and be hopeful. As the Light of His glory rises upon your life in these last days, you will be a living witness of the Light and love of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Press on through your darkness as His glory is about to be revealed in you and through you to the glory of God your Father. 

• "Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning." (Ps.30:5) 

Brian McGrath

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